Singing in the Rain
by Loopstagirl
Summary: A fast approaching thunderstorm gives two Tracys a race against nature. Happy birthday, Angel-Sue!


**Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners.**

**Angel-Sue, happy birthday, honeykins! All I can say is revenge is mine! :) Thanks for being such a great friend, have a really special day! Love you!**

Virgil sighed into his pillow, smiling in satisfaction as he felt the tension leave his body. It wasn't particularly late, but it had felt like a long day. The rescue that morning seemed like a lifetime ago, and Virgil wasn't completely sure where the rest of the day had gone. As rescues go, it had been a straight forward one and they had been home in time for breakfast. He had spent the rest of the day in his studio and had completely lost track of time. When he had finally stumbled out again, dazed after spending so long lost in his world of imagination, Scott had taken one look at him and practically pushed his brother in the shower fully clothed. Virgil hadn't been with it enough to protest, but as he watched the rivets of colour running from him, he realised he must have had as much paint on him as on his canvas.

The shower helped revive him a little and he was finally able to strip off and scrub himself clean properly just in time for dinner. A day of working like that always drained him, and he had been more than content to let the conversation go on around him rather than joining in. He knew that his grandmother would normally question whether he was okay or not if he was that quiet, but she too knew where he had been all day. It had felt like an age since he was last able to immerse himself in his art without either a brother or a rescue interrupting him. If he was honest, Virgil wasn't sure what he found to be the more annoying out of the two.

His relaxed mood had stayed for the rest of the evening. Considering the banter that was passing back and forth and the laughter coming from his brothers, he knew that he wasn't the only one feeling relaxed. No one was taking anything the wrong way, there were no glares being shot around at a comment going too far, everything was just as it should be. Thanking the world under his breath for once deciding to stay quiet and just let them get on with their lives, even if it was just for a day, Virgil had decided to get an early night.

Now he was in bed, he knew that had been the best idea he had had all day. It was peaceful and calming in here, and he wasn't sure there was a better place on earth (or in space if he had to include Five) than his bed. His breathing began to even out as sleep stole up to him, and Virgil wondered whether he would actually be able to get an early night for once.

A muffled boom made him sit up again, frowning. When nothing else happened, he made to sag, only for a second boom to echo through the room. Realising that it was coming from outside, Virgil swung his legs off the bed and moved towards his balcony. There was a cool breeze blowing and he found that he shivered before he realised he had let the doors slide open. The tiles felt cold under his bare feet, but Virgil just let the fresh air flood his senses as he breathed in deeply. Turning his gaze out to the sea, Virgil felt his breath catch.

He moved so fast that to blink would have been to miss him. But within seconds, Virgil had his elbows resting on the railings of the balcony, a sketch pad balanced in his hand and his fingers flying as he began to draw out the scene in front of him. A storm had brewed out over the ocean, and as another rumble of thunder filled the air, Virgil grinned as the lightening flashed through the clouds in front of him. He could feel by the fact the wind was on his face that it would be heading towards them, but as it had yet to hit, he knew he had time to draw. The clouds were such a deep colour, divided only by the forks of lightening that Virgil just knew he had to somehow capture the beauty before him.

As he drew, he could hear the balcony door next to him also open. But for once, Gordon was silent, only his bare feet padding out making Virgil even aware that his brother was watching the storm just as he was. Despite his general hyperactivity, Virgil knew Gordon was appreciating the raw power of the storm just as much as Virgil was, despite the artist attempt to race against time so that he was able to capture the essence of it on paper.

Just as it had done earlier in the day, Virgil lost track of time as he drew. The storm was drawing closer and his hand moved faster, almost as if he was racing against the elements himself. He had smudge marks the whole way up his hand, but he didn't know, too focused on what he was doing. Just as he made to try and emphasise the darkness to the brooding clouds, he heard Gordon suck in a sharp breath.

"Virg?"

"Mm?" Gordon was lucky to get any sort of answer, especially as the two brothers couldn't even see each other through the wall dividing their balconies. It came as no surprise to Virgil that Gordon knew he was out there, despite the fact that he had already been outside by the time the younger man had come out.

"Is the pool area secured?"

"Mm?"

"Virg!" It was only the sharpness to Gordon's voice on his second call that made Virgil blink himself out of his musings. It took a few seconds for his mind to come back to where he was, and he cursed when he felt the first splatters of rain against his bare arms.

"Virgil, is the pool secured?"

Virgil's curse gave Gordon the answer he needed, even if it wasn't the one that he wanted. Virgil darted back into his room, throwing his pad to one side and grabbing the first t-shirt he came across. He could hear similar movement coming from the next room and found that he flashed Gordon a grin as they both left their rooms, Gordon still attempting to pull on a shoe at the same time. Ever the big brother, Virgil threw out his arm, stopping Gordon from going down the stairs until he had stopped hopping on one foot, but then the mad rush through the villa continued. The wind had picked up now that the storm was closer and Virgil shuddered to hear the way it was tearing through the jungle. Kyrano was not going to be happy if damage was caused.

Their oldest brother and father were still in the lounge as the two came running through and Virgil felt a flash of irritation that they hadn't thought to go and secure the loungers – they were closer. But then he realised that although the wind was audible, it was entirely possible that neither Scott nor their father knew that there was a storm on top of them, it wasn't obvious through the soundproofing that covered the room. Scott's call followed them out, but neither Virgil nor Gordon responded as they raced on.

Bursting out through the doors, Virgil gasped. In the time that it had taken them to get from their rooms down to the pool, the storm had come ever closer. The wind whipped through his hair and tugged at his shirt, wrapping it around his body as it twisted. Gordon swore, then wrenched his own over his head and threw it back into the house. No longer constricted by material fighting against him, the redhead grinned and Virgil decided it wasn't such a bad idea. He followed suit, but shivered. Even so, there was no way he was going to fight to get it back on again.

"You take the right hand side!" He yelled to Gordon, but the wind stole his words and his brother simply frowned at him. Rolling his eyes, Virgil pointed at Gordon, then to the right side of the pool. The younger man got the message this time and nodded, jogging off. Letting his hands rest on his hips, Virgil turned to survey the scene, mind racing about what needed to be tied down if the storm was to get any worse.

Both brothers worked quickly and effectively. This was a scenario they had perfected over the years. The first storm that had hit the island when they had moved here and trashed the place from where chairs and loungers had smashed into either the side of the house or been dragged down towards the beach and into the jungle. It had taken them days to clear up again, and now they had a system in place for what needed to be done whenever the weather turned against them. As another rumble of thunder echoed through his head, Virgil ran towards his side of the pool. Grabbing the back of two loungers, he began pulling them across the ground.

They had a small storage shed in place now, constructed after they realised they had some left over material from the silos. Nothing would be able to touch whatever was inside, and if it did… then they had bigger problems than a few chairs flying off. Fumbling with the lock, Virgil found himself wondering when it had suddenly got so dark. The next boom of thunder came swiftly and Virgil knew that the storm was practically overhead now.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the heaven's opened. He could hear Gordon laughing from the other side of the pool, even over the wind. Only his little brother would find it funny that they had just been caught up in the storm, but as Virgil glanced over at him, he found that there was a fond smile on his face. They no longer had time to get the chairs from Gordon's side of the pool over to the shed, so he had just lashed them together and made sure the wind would truly have to fight in order to get them to move. But there was a wide grin on Gordon's face and he spread his arms out to the side, tilting his head back and letting the rain wash over him.

"You're mad!" Virgil yelled, brushing a piece of sodden hair out of his eyes and wondering when he had got so wet so quickly. He could tell that Gordon had heard his words, but was just choosing to ignore him. Rolling his eyes, Virgil forced the loungers into the shed, darting back through the rain to get the last couple. The rain was bouncing off the ground so hard that Virgil was soaked from head to toe, now grateful that he was only wearing shorts rather than anything heavier.

He pulled them across, shoving them haphazardly into the storage unit and putting his weight behind the door as he battled against the winds in order to get it shut again. As he felt the lock click, Virgil let out a long breath and was once again forced to push his hair from his eyes. He could feel the way it was sticking to his forehead, rivets of water running down his neck and across his back. Satisfied that everything was as secure as he could get it, Virgil moved back towards Gordon, who had taken to spinning in circles.

"Gords? We're done!"

"I know!" There was laughter even in Gordon's voice and Virgil found himself staring at his brother. Rather than knowing that they were done and swiftly heading back into the shelter of the house, Gordon had simply decided to stay out in the rain.

"Are you coming in?"

"Nope. Are you?" Virgil made to tell Gordon that he was mad, that of course he was going in. But then he caught sight of the grin on Gordon's face and realised just how relaxed and happy Gordon was out here. Virgil slowly shut his mouth again and found that he was shaking his head. After all, he was already soaked and there was only so wet a person could get. Gordon seemed to see Virgil's argument dying on his lips and he grinned.

"Race ya!"

Without naming the finishing line, Gordon took off, his laugh bouncing behind him even as he ran. For a moment, Virgil simply stood there staring out after him. His mind was racing, thinking of all the reasons why they shouldn't be doing this. It was the middle of a storm, they both needed to get dried off before it made them ill, the ground was slippery, they could fall and hurt themselves and the others wouldn't know…

But as Gordon disappeared from sight and lightening flashed through the sky again, Virgil found that all the thoughts were stripped from his mind. Drenched with the wind howling around him and thunder clapping overhead, he gave a long laugh and darted after his little brother. Gordon clearly heard him coming if the laugh was anything to go by, and Virgil found he had a grin of his own on his face. Who cares if they were supposed to be members of International Rescue who knew the dangers that nature could throw at them better than anyone?

Sometimes, it was far better to just let go and give chase.

So that was precisely what Virgil did, despite the fact that a storm was crashing over the island and there wasn't an inch of him that wasn't already wet.


End file.
